Dmitry Obolensky

Russian statesman (b. 1822; d. 1881), born Prince Dmitry Aleksandrovich Obolensky (Дмитрий Александрович Ободенский).

After graduating from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence, he first served in the Moscow senate, then on the judicial establishments in Kazan, Tula and Saint Petersburg. He was a commissariat director in the sea ministry for more than ten years, becoming director of the customs department. Early in the 1860s he presided on a commission for regulation of the Russian press, and from 1872 he was a member of the Council of State.

Obolensky was also Vice-President of the Russian Musical Society, and Tchaikovsky wrote to him in 1873 concerning a competition organised by the society, which was eventually won by Tchaikovsky's opera Vakula the Smith, Op. 14 (1874).

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

One letter from Tchaikovsky to Dmitry Obolensky has survived, dating from 1873:

• Letter 294 – 7/19 March 1873, from Moscow